Lint-collecting system



J. DAVIDSON. UNT COLLECTING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1917. 1,350,439.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

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anvwwtoz Wi la woo I Q Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

J. DAVIDSON. LINT COLLECTING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-29,19I7. 1 850,439. Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

. I I (9 w (Hum UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. TOSEPH DAVIDSON, OFGREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGENOB OF ONE-HALF TO AMERICAN MACHINE &.MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NORTH CAROLINA.

LINT-COLLECTING SYSTEM.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, JOSEPH DAVIDSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Greenville, county of Greenville, and State of South Carolina have invented an Improvement in Lint-dollectin Systems, of which the following is a speci cation.

The object ofmy inventionaris to provide an improved system and apparatus for col- "lecting'lint obtained from the treatment of cotton seed, whereby less manual labor is required and a consequent reduction in cost is accomplished.

Prior to my invention, the customary method of collecting lint from cotton seed linters has been by means of an individual wire drum condenser attached to each linter machine, the lint from the linter being collected' by rolling up on a mandrel on the condenser, and said rolls of lint so produced then separately carried by hand from the linter and its condenser to a lint baling press located in a separate room. This operation was performed in connection with each linter machine, and has proven .unsatisfactory, due more especially to the labor necessarily requiredin separately conveying the numerous rolls of lint from the plurality of linter machines to the baling press, also to the objection caused by the dust and short lint flyings being discharged through the wire covering of the condenser out into the room and thereby making the linter room very uninhabitable to the operators, and further producing a fire hazard owing to the accumulations of this short fiber and dust settling around the machines, on the floors, ledges and timbers of the building.

More specifically, my invention comprehends dispensing entirely with a separate condenser with each linter machine; also the elimination from the room containing the linter machines the lint condensing apparatus; also the locating of a single condenser in a separate room and adapted to receive the lint from, a plurality of linter machines through the employment of suitable devices for creating a draft, and arranging the said condenser adjacent to the baling press so thatthe handling of the lint rolls may be reduced to a minimum: Furthermore, in the system thus stated, there is no discharge of fiyings and dust Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 24, 1920. Application filed March 29, 1917. I

Serial No. 158,174.

from the linters into the linter room, and in the case of the condenser common to the plurality of linters, this is preferably inclosed to prevent any possibility of the flylngs and dust escaping into the baling room. The objects of my system, therefore, may be concisely stated to facilitate more economical handling of the lint by eliminating the manual labor of carrying the lint rolls produced from each linter into a separate room where the press is located, and instead, automatically delivering all of the lint from the linters directly to a common condenser arranged in the baling press room and close to the press; further to eliminate any lint fiyings and dust from the linter room thereby keeping it clean and the atmosphere wholesome and with a resulting lessant fire hazard; to avoid the waste of lint which heretofore has been considerable; to improve the cleanliness of the lint itself by the positive control of the air set in motion by the linter brush, whereby the motes and fine particles of hulls knocked off the saw by the brush of the linter are caused to fall out of the air suction while avoiding loss of lint itself; and great saving in floor space in the linter room by the elimination of the condensers to each linter machine.

Aside from the general improvements directed to the system as a whole, my invention includes specific features in the construction of the linter which provides for means whereby the currents of air set in motion by the revolving linter brush may be modified or controlled by suitable valve devices and dampers which may regulate the extent of the draft so that foreign particles heavier than the lint itself may be caused to separate from the lint and thereby provide a more cleanly condition of the lint passing to the condenser than has heretofore been possible.

My invention also consists of improvements hereinafter described whereby the above objects and results are attained, said improvements comprising certain organization and combination of parts which are fully described hereinafter and more particularly defined in the claims.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings the embodiment thereof which is .at present preferred by me, since the same is in form to give satisfactory and reliable results, but it is to be understood that the several instrumentalities of WhlCh my invention consists, can be variously arranged and' organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organ-..

ization of the instrumentalities herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings :Figure 1 is a cross section of a linter machine embodying my.improvements;.and Fig. 2 is an elevation w1th part in section showing the arrangement of the various parts from the linter to the baling press which enter into the operation of my improved lint collecting system.

2, 2, illustrate a plurality of linter ma-.

-chines arrangedin'a room.3; 4, 4, are suction conduits leading from the respective linter machines and communicating with a conduit 5 which delivers into the suction of an exhaust-blower 6 arranged at a distance from the linter machines and preferably in a separate room 7. The discharge side of the exhaust-blower 6 discharges through a conduit 8 into a collector 9 from which the lint passes through the hood 11 into the batting condenser 12'. This condenser is shown as having an inclosed chamber 13 within which is arranged a suitable cylinder 14 having a circumference of wire cloth which re- .ceives the lint descending through the hood 11. v 15 is a pressure roller rollin in contact with the surface of the cylin er 14 and densifying the batting of lint which is formed between said roller and the cylinder while being carried downward by said operation and delivered at 16 close to the baling press 17. This condenser and baling press are arranged in the compartment 7 which is separate and distinct from the compartment 3 in which the linter machines are system here disclosed, because the lintmaybe brought to a condition whereby it can be transferred tothe baling press without being Bib-first brought into the more condensed batting form, but I prefer toemploy a batting condenser as it brings the lint to a more definite form. It will be noted that there is no discharge of any air from the linters within the room 3 in which the linters are located,

' and consequently the air of said room is in a satisfactory condition without flyings ordust therein due to an internal pressure created within the linter machines asheretofore. It will be noted that the conduits 4 leading from the separate linter machines 2 are'each provided with a gate or valve 18 havinga depending rod 19 which it may b be ad usted. By means of these valves the degree of suction put upon the respective linter machines may be varied to suit the particularrequirements ofany machine and also to compensate for the varying distances of the linter machines from the suctionblower 6.

, Referring more. articularly to the linter machines shown in ig. 1, the following features of construction are pointed out :-The usual saws 20 cooperate with-the breast 21 and are combined with the brush cylinder 22 'as heretofore, the lint being removed from the seeds by the saws and being'liberated 1 scribed. The conduit portion 4 leads downward from the tube 4 and brbadens to the full width of the linter casing,as indicated in Fig. 2, and communicates with a curved neck portion 42 -having an oblique bottom plate 4* extending. well below and from the rear forward inrespect to the revolving brush 22. The forward wall 4 of the neck' portion 4 is hinged at 23 so as to be adjusted toward or from the brush, and when adjusted so as to snugly fit close tothe brush,

it may be clamped in place by the clamping device 24. By this adjustment, the air carrying the lint put into motion will not be carried upward over the brush, and at the same time the suction due to the action of the ex-- haust-blower will be concentrated in drawing oil the air containing the lint at the bottom part of the rotating brush, The principle on which my improved linter operates is that I am enabled to produce justthe right amount of vacuum. or suction in the brush chamber to approximately just take up the air (charged with the lint) which is set in motion by the rotarylinter brush 22, thus avoidingany internal pressure and ejection of the lint-laden air or flyings into the linter room. Further, the provision made between the conduit wall 4 and the apron 25 allows the inflow of air in suflicient quantity to just compensate for the air removed by the conduit 4 and exhausting devices, so that the rotating brush 22 is continually providing lint laden-air under approximately normal pressure and operating with fresh air as rapidly as the exhausting devices remove the surcharged air. In otherwords, I vide a continuous current of fresh air to the pro-.

itself of the lint-laden air which it set in motion; and as its action tended to create an internal pressure, the result was to discharge flyings into the linter room; and moreover, the brush did not have capacity to keep up a sufficient velocity in the main trunk flue to the condenser to prevent the heavier portions of the lint dropping and accumulating in the bottom of the flue, thereby causing objectionable choking at intervals'and also giving a very uneven grade of lint, by reason of the fact that dirt and the heavy portions of the lint which settled in the flue become discharged intermittently. These defects in operation are entirely overcome by my invention employing the suction or vacuum to take care of all the air from ,the brushes and by using a comparatively small intake and dischar e thoroughfares,- thus keeping up ample ve ocity, insuring perfect circulation and avoidance of all tendency to choking.

The employment of the apron 25 enables the air and floating lint to be deflected, preventing it getting too far awayfrom the brush 22 and the intake end- 4 of the conduit leading to the exhausting device 6, and

thereby insuring the Int-laden air from being removed from the influence of draft of the suction conduit.

The apron provides means for adjusting the air space between itself and the plat 4" andthereby to regulate the fresh air currents guided to the brush, and at the same time acts as a guide. for the discharge of any motes or fine particles of the hulls which are the knocked ofl" by the saws, and for delivering them out of the influence of the suction leading to the conduit}. The adjustment of this apron may be accomplished in many ways, but that shown being by a rack 27 upon the apron and a pinion 28 meshing therewith and rotated by a hand operated shaft 29.

I have not describedin detail the linter machine other than is required to an understanding of my improvements, as the feeding andother devices are all well known and are in no way to be understood as limitations .pleted in the discharge thereof into the conduit 8, and broadly considered, my invention would comprehend any means which would receive thiscommingled lint and sufficiently densify it to enable it to be handled for delivery into the baling press. This may be accomplished either by the collector 9 and the batting condenser l3 separately or together. I prefer to use the two devices as shown, but it will be manifest that the particular means for densifying the commingledlint sufliciently that it may be handled for delivery to the baling press, is a matter of secondary importance to the princi les involved in the system; and while the orming of'the lint into batting is perhaps most desirable, I do notin any manner restrict myself thereto.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction and system which embody the features of advantages enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is z- I 1. The herein described method of collecting lint which consists in causing a plurality of freely floating separate bodies of lint to be formed from separate sources and to be held respectively in suspension within separate confined spaces, collecting all of the plurality of bodies ofsuspended lint and commingling them under the action of suction from a common source, and continuously thereafter delivering the commingled lint so collected to a condenser. under light atmospheric pressure, condensing the lint into a commonbatting suitable for baling.

2. The herein described method of collecting lint directly from a plurality of separate sources such as linters, which consists in causing a plurality of separate bodies of freely floating lint to be formed from the separate sources under independent regu lated air blast in respect to each of said sources and suction from a common source sufficiently to cause the separate bodies of lint to be respectivel held in suspension within separatel con ned spaces, collectin all of the plurality of bodies of suspende lint and commingling them under the action of said .suction from the common source,

transferring the commingled and collected lint to a distant place by means of air pressure, relieving the air pressure employed in transferring the lint before the lint is subjected to the condensing treatment to convert it' into battin and finally condensing the said comming ed lint under a relatively light atmos heric pressure.

3. n apparatus of the character stated, a plurality of linter machines, combined with a plurality of upright chambers. into which the linter machines respectively deliver the lint and in which it is held suspended, a combined suction-blower,-a conduit leading from the suction side of the blower and in conimunicationwith the-upper portions of the plurality of upright chambers whereby all of the several bodies of lint are lifted and comsuction blower and communicating with the condenser. v 4. In apparatus of the character stated, a plurality of linter machines, combined with a plurality of upright chambers into which the linter machlnes respectively deliver the lint and in which it is held suspended, a combined suction blower, a conduit leading from the suction side of the blower and in communication with the u per portions of the plurality of upri ht c ambers, whereby all of the several b0 ies of lint are lifted and commingled on the way to the suction blower, a con enser for condensing the lint into batted form suitable for baling, a conduit leading from the pressure side of the suction blower and communicatin with the condenser, and means in communication with the pressure conduit adjacent to the condenser for relievin the air pressure whereby the lint is re-' ceived in the condenser under relatively light pressure and the blower may operate under substantially constant resistance.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH DAVIDSON.

, Witnesses:

E. W. SMITH, ,1 R. E. SMITH. 

